


Stitching Together

by rayisokay



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Birthday Presents, Bullysquadess, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Inspired By Tumblr, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sewing, Slow Burn, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-07-26 20:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7589902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayisokay/pseuds/rayisokay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chat Noir decides that Ladybug deserves a birthday present. But he wants to get her something he put his heart, and not his father's money, into. So, he enlists the help of a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Finding a Design

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, the idea is originally bullysquadess'! So thanks to her for letting me use it!  
> This technically takes place right after the Bubbler, but for the sake of my creative license, things from other episodes may or may not show up. We'll see.  
> And I believe in the show the characters are around 14-15, but also for the sake of my creative license (and my conscience), let's say they're more like 16-17.

Chat Noir knew that the chances of another attack right after the Bubbler were close to none. He wasn't scaling buildings and jumping across rooftops just to keep an eye out for an akuma in the night. But it had just been his birthday. He wanted to have fun. Frankly, jumping through the night was a lot better than free falling with nothing but a baton and a yoyo between the heroes and the ground.

As the city's lights flew past him, illuminating the various buildings’ silhouettes, Chat spotted a flash of red from his peripheral. It broke the yellow glow. _Ladybug_. She was never out too soon after an akuma. Driven by curiosity and the ache for her company, he jumped to the building beside him.

“What brings you out here on such a quiet night, My Lady?” Chat asked, walking to the ledge where she sat.

Ladybug jolted, and with a squeak, looked up at him. “Chat! You surprised me.” She raised an eyebrow as he sat beside her. “And I should be asking you that.”

“Would you believe me if I said I was just scouring the city for my favorite Lady Luck?”

“No, you know I wouldn't,” she said.

“Well, I was bored. Nothing beats the roofs at night, wouldn't you say?” After receiving a shake of her head and a smile, he continued. “Now what about you?”

Ladybug looked back out over the city. A pause. Finally, “I couldn't sleep. My room is a nice space and all, but the fresh air was needed.”

He hesitated. “Might I ask why?”

“It's just been… an eventful day.”

Chat waited for her to elaborate. Perhaps akuma attacks weren't the biggest part of her days.

“It was a friend's birthday recently. Long story short, I don't know them that well, but I think this friend doesn't have a good home life.” She didn't speak for several moments and looked away. “That boy yesterday, Adrien. The Bubbler.. I guess all of that just reminded me of this friend.”

Maybe it was the far away, disturbed look in her eyes; Chat could hear in her voice the care for this friend. She even spoke his own name with care. Somehow, he found himself falling more and more in love with Ladybug. He tried not to wonder if one day she would care for him in that way.

“Well your friend is lucky to have you in their life. I can tell you really care for them, and I'm sure they can too.”

“I can only hope so, Chat.”

He wanted to say more, but sometimes giving people silence was the best course. He had learned a while back that he shouldn't count the minutes he had with Ladybug, especially not the ones spent outside of an akuma’s rage. Neither hero had any idea what time it was when they said goodnight.

 

○○○

 

Their next patrol was more lighthearted. Ladybug couldn't say she wasn't relieved. Of course she valued the quiet moments with Chat, and the way he knew not to say anything when she just needed to think. But it was suffocating. It reminded her that there was a boy behind the mask with friends, and a family, and a birthday. Why birthdays?

“Say, Buginette, when is _your_ birthday?”

“Why would you need to know, Chat?” She hoped he didn't think she was evading him, so she added, “A birthday won't help you in an akuma attack. _And_ you know we shouldn't reveal ourselves.”

“Our little talk a few nights back reminded me. What if I wanted to do something for you on your special day like you did for your friend? Besides. Several girls in Paris have the same birthday. I'm sure of it.”

She tried again to avoid answering. “Well I don't even know yours, Chaton.”

“The Bubbler. Mine was the same day that the Bubbler attacked.” He didn't hesitate. “I told you several people in Paris share birthdays.”

Ladybug huffed. Chat knew he wasn't making this easy for her.

“Even if you tell me a month. Are you a spring baby? Winter?”

“Summer,” she finally said. “August.”

“Brilliant!” Chat couldn't help but laugh.

Ladybug knew he had to have something up his sleeve for her upcoming birthday. She didn't know he already had in mind who to ask for help.

 

○○○

 

Adrien didn't know why he was so nervous the next morning. “Marinette is my friend, Marinette is my friend.” He had been chanting that to himself, pacing before the school entrance for nearly ten minutes by the time Nino found him.

“Dude, are you okay?”

“Marinette is my friend!”

“Whoah. You, my friend, are clearly out of it. That answers that question. Next question: why?”

Adrien looked to the side. “I need to ask her a favor...”

“Then ask!” Nino said, patting his friend on the shoulder and leading him into the school. “Marinette is one of the most willing and helpful people I know. And she would _love_ to help you out with whatever. I know it.”

Pep talk or no, Adrien spent the whole morning on edge. Finally, he had a chance to speak to her alone.

“Marinette!” He waved her down.

“Adrien!” Wide eyed, she smiled. “What is it?”

“Um, I had a favor to ask, actually.”

“Anything you need!”

“Well, okay, it's actually a kind of big favor. And, I know fashion is really _your_ thing, and I wouldn't dare ask any of my dad's employees because they're already so busy, and I know you're busy too! But honestly I'd just rather ask you and-” Adrien only realized he had been rambling when he stopped to take a breath. “Would you please teach me how to sew?”

Marinette didn't say anything for a few moments, processing everything. “Of course!”

“Thank you so much, Marinette!” He beamed, and placed his hands on her shoulders in excitement. “When are you free?”

 

○○○

 

Marinette almost regretted saying yes.

Taking down all the photos of Adrien from her wall and hiding them in her desk was easy enough. She had plenty of photos of her with her parents, classmates, and Alya to replace them. Even taping the pull-down calendar with Adrien’s schedule to prevent embarrassing accidents didn't take too long.

But then the boy himself came upstairs from the bakery to meet her in the living room. He was all smiles and a polite wave, and her heartbeat accelerated.

“Hi Marinette!”

“A-Adrien! Hi! You're welcome. I mean -- welcome!” She wanted to slap herself for the slip up; it wasn't her first time doing so. Instead, she motioned towards the stairs. “Let's go then. I do all of my work in my room.”

Adrien hurried after her in bubbling excitement. It died nearly as soon as he saw the mini studio she had set up. He was never involved in his father's work, and while getting measured and posing were one thing, creating was a whole other story. But if he took hit after hit for Ladybug, he could brave _this_.

Marinette didn't really know the details behind Adrien’s request. But fashion was her element. She could be talking to the Golden Boy™ or Hawkmoth himself, but for goodness’ sake, she'd teach him how to sew.

“So… I don't know how much you already know from your father's company, or if you've worked with the designers much at all.”

He shook his head. “Not beyond measurements, no.”

“We'll start from the beginning then.” She moved to the sewing machine and took a small and round plastic thing from the top. “This is a bobbin. It basically holds the second strand of thread needed in basic stitches. I'll show you how to fill it up in a minute. But first,” she turned from the machine to a plastic box of what seemed to be extra fabric, “You should choose your fabric.”

When she saw that Adrien clearly had no idea where to begin, she crouched next to the box and motioned for him to do the same. “I know that you probably have silk sheets, and pillows filled with the softest fake feathers in the world, but let's start by making a pillowcase, okay? It's practically the simplest thing someone can sew.”

He nodded. Simple. He liked simple. Simple sounded good when he was already overwhelmed by how much he didn't know about sewing, and _what kind of word is bobbin?_

Eventually, the two teens settled on a solid blue cotton blend that reminded Marinette of the skies she'd seen on tropical postcards. It reminded Adrien of Ladybug’s eyes. Neither of them voiced these.

After two equal rectangles were cut, Marinette moved on to showing him how to fill the bobbin. Adrien found that it was almost as hard as physics class, but more interesting. He was going to _make_ something.

Eventually. If he ever got it right.

“The thread’s not coming up. It's just going in a circle.”

“You turn the dial towards you. Yeah. See? There it goes.”

“There it goes!”

And then came the actual sewing. Adrien spent half the time marveling that Marinette didn't stab her fingers right off with how she was able to floor the pedal.

“Don't be afraid to go fast, but starting slow is good too. I've learned that the hard way, and I'd hate for you to too.”

She was a great teacher, and he thought it must be because she knew how it felt to learn. She knew that fabric didn't always line up perfectly, that pins pricked unsuspecting fingers, and that stitches were sometimes crooked.

“Wait, ‘wrong side?’ I knew I started school on your wrong side Marinette, but I didn't know fabric had one!”

And she laughed with him. When the pillowcase was finished, and Adrien knew he'd treasure it because he made it, and it was crooked but beautiful, he decided. Having a friend with him through the process was his favorite part.


	2. Choosing Fabrics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette shares her woes, Adrien can't hide his happiness, and Alya is the mvp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'll pre-write chapters," I said.   
> "I'll avoid huge update waits," I said.   
> Six months later, and here we are. I sincerely apologize to those who have been patiently waiting this next chapter.   
> I actually have the next several chapters planned out, if not written, so updates SHOULD come faster now. School is about to start again though, so don't take my word for it.   
> That said, enjoy!

Marinette was no longer okay. 

“What am I going to do?” She flopped herself across her bed and faced her best friend with a whine. “I thought I could do it Alya, but how am I going to survive much more of this? He was just so excitable, and attentive, and when he saw his pressed seams he just  _ smiled _ like he had no idea what it was doing to me…” 

“I will point out that you could have just said no.”

“But I wouldn’t just say  _ no _ to  _ Adrien _ .” She sat up to face her friend and pouted. “Especially not if it’s for something so… unproblematic.”

“Exactly,” Alya said. “Besides. Do you know how valuable this time is? You’re getting several hours at a time, a few times a week, alone together with _Adrien_. Woo him with your skills, girl!” 

“I’m not sure how much he’d be wooed by a pillowcase and some bobbins,” she started. 

“Don't even go there.” Alya held up a hand to stop her friend. “We could be having this conversation ten years down the line and I'd still have no idea how to put that bobbin into the holder thing. What you do with a sewing machine is magic.”

“Magic has nothing to do with it.” Marinette smiled to herself. She thought about Tikki, who was hiding in her closet. Sewing came from years of practice, but miraculous were the only magical thing in her life.  

Alya huffed to herself. “Whatever it is, keep it up. Adrien and his angelic smile may not be good for your heart, but mark my words, if  _ something _ doesn't come out of this, I'll scream.”

 

○○○

 

“Chat, if you don't tell me what's up with you today, I might scream.” 

Since patrol started, he had been smiling in a way that was foreign to her: empty of pride and jokes, but full of contentment. She could have sworn she heard him humming to himself. He even seemed as if he knew something she didn't. That alone could drive her mad. 

“Oh?” Chat raised an eyebrow and grinned at his friend. 

“You know what I mean,” Ladybug said. 

“Actually, I don't.” He tilted his head and clarified. “At least not what you mean by me acting ‘up.’” 

She pointed out his weird smiles and upbeat tunes in hopes for an explanation. She didn't get one. 

“Well, that just might be for me to know and you to find out, Buginette.” 

Ladybug groaned. That was no more use to her than ketchup was to cookies. But at least it brought out his usual smile, refilled with his teasing air. 

“You're impossible, Chat.” And yet, she wouldn't have him any other way. 

 

○○○

 

Humming and content smiles seemed to be a common theme among the boys in Marinette’s life. At school, Adrien sported a demeanor awfully similar to Chat’s the night before. Confused as she was, Marinette didn't mind this time around. She sighed happily, staring at him from behind. Seeing Adrien happy was a gift in itself. 

Alya was quick to notice, and simply shook her head at her lovesick best friend. Unlike Marinette, who was too stuck in a cloud, she also observed the boys’ conversation. 

“Hey, Adrien.” Nino had to snap his fingers in front of the blond’s face to get his attention. 

“Sorry, what is it Nino?” 

“What's got you so giddy this morning?” 

“Who says I'm acting giddy?” His voice raised an octave, becoming breathy with denial. 

Even if Nino was blind as a bat, he could have heard the attempts to steer him away from the subject. Unimpressed, he raised his eyebrows at Adrien, inviting him to explain. 

“I'm just happy, alright?” 

“Because…. Come on dude, don't leave me hanging here!” 

“Um… things just went really well with Marinette the other day I guess. She was a good teacher for a helpless beginner like me.”

“Wait, hold up. You never did tell me what you wanted to ask Marinette.” 

“Oh! I didn't,” Adrien said as he looked down, as if that just occurred to him. “Well, she's teaching me to sew.” 

“Seriously man?” Nino’s exclamation caused half of the conversations around the classroom to come to a halt. Even Marinette’s daydreaming stupor left her in exchange for curiosity. 

Seeing this, Nino lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. “Sorry. But I mean seriously? That's so cool! Since when did you become interested in sewing? Last time I checked, you never seemed that thrilled by your father's profession.” 

“It's got nothing to do with my father,” Adrien confessed. What he couldn't confess was his plan to gift Ladybug for her birthday. Coming up with a half truth that would convince his friend, he spoke. “It's just… I wanted to learn something that wasn't taught by an expensive tutor?” 

“Bro…” Nino frowned. “That's really sad… Well, I wish you the best with Mari.”

“Thanks, Nino. I think I'll need it.” 

 

○○○

 

“Do you like basketball?” 

As soon as Adrien knocked on Marinette’s door that afternoon, she blurted out the question. 

“Um… yes? How come?” 

“Oh! I'm sorry! Right, come in first.” She stepped aside to welcome him in, and averted her gaze. “Um, I just meant, I assumed you liked it. Because… P.E! You- well- uh. You're really good at basketball during P.E! I mean-” 

“Oh!” Adrien straightened at the compliment. “Thanks, Marinette. What brought up the question?” 

As if a switch was flipped, Marinette jolted to attention. “Well, I figured you wouldn't want to stick to pillowcases this whole time. Sweatbands, if you'd use them, are more practical. They'd give you an opportunity to get used to sewing different materials. Plus, you could get a few more techniques under your belt that just don't come with sewing a pillowcase. But if you were to actually get use out of them, basketball seemed relevant. Or maybe jogging...” 

“I love that idea,” he assured her. “Shall we get started?”

“Of course!” 

The two headed upstairs to Marinette’s room. She had almost permanently switched her walls to show her family, friends, and even the odd photo of the heroes of Paris. 

The area by her sewing machine was already prepared this time. A few pieces of a towel-like material were already cut and laid out by size and color. There were only two sizes, and the colors were only black and white. Adrien was somewhat relieved by the limitation of choices this time around; last time, he could have spent all afternoon just picking what color of cotton to use. 

After Adrien decided on making black wrist bands, Marinette led him to load the machine with matching thread. She taught him to sew the fabric into a tube, and all of the other little details that differed from making pillowcases. 

“Okay, I know we're almost done here, but,” Marinette paused to hold up two light green strips of what looked like ribbon, but weren't quite as smooth. “You've been doing so well, I thought you might want to add some decorations.” 

Adrien beamed at the girl and nodded. Despite his stitches being way more crooked on the narrower target, he couldn't hold back his excitement when they were done. “These are so cool Marinette! Thank you!” 

“Well-”

“I mean it! You're an amazing teacher,” he continued, eyes soft. 

“Oh! Uh-” Marinette’s face heated up at the blatant praise, from  _ Adrien _ of all people. “Well, thank  _ you _ too, for being an amazing student.” 

The two averted their gazes from one another. They held matching wrist bands in their hands, and wore matching pink on their cheeks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hnnnng, if I'm being completely honest here, I thought the end of this chapter was rather boring. If you still liked it though, I'm glad.   
> I hope y'all enjoyed all this fluff, because things are about to heat up in the next chapter. And not in the steamy way.


	3. Cutting Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé notices things. She also shows up in conversation later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all loved the fluff? Well, I apologize.  
> Let's just say, the title wasn't intentional, but it fits.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary during P.E. class. The difference could have easily gone unnoticed. But Chloé Bourgeois didn't let  _ anything _ go unnoticed. 

“Adrien, you have new wristbands!” she exclaimed as soon as she saw them. “They make your eyes stand out beautifully, I must say.” 

She quickly attached herself to him as tightly as she could without touching any sweat - a feat made rather difficult by the way Adrien had been running across the court moments before. 

“Thanks, Chlo!” he said with a polite smile at the compliment. Rather proud of his accomplishment, he added, “I made them myself!” 

Chloé raised her eyebrows. She was confused, but more pleased than anything. After all, if she couldn't sew to save her life, at least she could brag the talents of her inevitable boo. “That's-” 

“Well actually, I made this one-” He held out his right wrist, and then his left. “-and Marinette made this one. She's been teaching me how to sew. Isn't it great?” 

Almost immediately, her hands had released from his arm. Tight lipped, she managed to choke out one more word. “Wonderful.” 

Nino had to choke back a laugh at her obvious distaste. He leaned in towards his friend to whisper, “Bitterness suits her.”

Adrien could only furrow his eyebrows at Nino. What was that all about? 

  
  


○○○

 

The next time Adrien went to Marinette’s house, he knew what he wanted to learn to make. 

“Oh, that's good,” she said. She let out a hesitant chuckle before opening the trapdoor to her bedroom. “I kinda had no idea what to teach you today, because I'd never taught anyone to sew before, and… well. Prepare yourself.” 

The chaos before him was nothing compared to his first lesson. Back then, she had a plan; but if there was a plan hidden somewhere in the supplies scattered across the room, Adrien couldn't tell. Several boxes full of fabrics had clearly been dug through, with scraps lying on the floor beside them. Zippers, ribbons, and spools of thread littered the tabletop, and Adrien wasn't sure if Marinette knew that the fabric pencil behind her ear was leaving blue dust in her hair. 

“Sorry about all of this,” she said with a small smile. “So… what was it you wanted to make today?” 

“If it isn't too much trouble, could you teach me to make a skirt?”

“That's pretty vague, considering there's pencil skirts, A-line skirts, circle skirts, only to name a few. And,” she paused, as if her initial reaction had finally caught up to her. “Why a skirt? I-if you don't mind me asking.”

“It would be a gift for a friend,” he said. It would be too much trouble to expand, to tell her that he wanted to be as prepared as possible to make a summer dress for his friend's birthday in a few short months. It'd be even harder to tell her that said friend was  _ Ladybug _ of all people, and that he was in love with her. But maybe explaining his intentions would have saved him some trouble. 

“Is it for Chloé?” She couldn't even hide the distaste in her voice. 

“What if it was?” Adrien asked before he could stop himself. “What's so bad about Chloé?”

Marinette’s eyes widened. What's so bad about Chloé?  _ Oh boy _ , the things she could tell him. Red flags should have gone off in her mind about the direction of the conversation, but all she could see was red. Differentiating any details was near impossible. 

Through the calmest facade she could muster, she said, “I just don't think she's a great person, that's all.” 

“She makes mistakes, but everyone does. Why do all of my friends hate her so much?” Adrien’s voice was quieter, but he was visibly growing more upset. He looked at Marinette with widened eyes, as if she could give him an answer he'd like. 

She found herself raising her voice. “Then why do you so blindly accept her and her cruelty towards everyone but you? Do you really think that your friends are the ones ganging up on her?” 

Adrien couldn't argue back. His voice stuck in his throat. It never would come out when there was someone louder in the room. And this time, that someone louder was obviously mad at him, and had every reason to kick him out of her life. With a hanging head, he mumbled, “Let's… just… make another pillowcase.” 

Marinette’s shoulders drooped immediately. She had  _ hurt _ Adrien. He may have been drastically wrong about Chloé, but she never wanted to hurt him. A lump formed in her throat, and she couldn't find it in herself to argue or apologize. 

“Okay. Let's.” 

In silence, she dug out more of the same cotton they had used in their first lesson. She cut it to size, pinned the pieces, and threaded the machine’s needle, completely on autopilot. She was obviously still fuming, but making things helped her cope. It helped her wind down after an akuma, and it helped her get a break from homework. It helped her when she feared that she had just broken something that could have been great.

Adrien didn't comment that she was doing all of the work herself. Admittedly, it saddened him. She obviously didn't want to acknowledge him when he'd probably just ruined their budding friendship. But he didn't want to get in her way, so he stayed silent. He simply supplied her with scissors when she needed to snip the threads, and moved out of her way when she ironed the finished case. 

Finally, she realized that she had just ignored him for a sizeable chunk of time. “Oh. Right, you wanted… um.” Awkwardly, she held the pillowcase out to him. It hung limply between them. “Sorry. Here.”

“Right. No problem. Thanks.”

And then he took it from her hands with a sad, obviously forced smile. Without any more words exchanged between the two, he left. Her bedroom’s trapdoor simply thudded behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time attempting a multi chapter fic in quite a while, so we'll see how this goes. I actually have something of an end point in mind, and will try to pre-write chapters before posting them to avoid huge update waits.  
> Please feel free to point out mistakes or choppy writing in any area, as that's greatly appreciated.  
> Thanks again for reading!


End file.
